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England U19s Beat Finland 1-0

The England U19s came away with a hard fought victory against Finland on 13 November. Noel Blake had his side impacted by a number of withdrawals (of which can be seen below), which only added to the experience of the match. Instead of having a first choice squad out there, Blake had to contend without what he estimated to be “around 15-20″ players. Although, some of the “injured” reasons are a little far fetched, given Eric Dier made his Senior debut for Sporting Lisbon this past weekend!

With the opportunity to impress, a vast number of the U18s from October’s recent friendly against Italy strapped up their boots and took to the pitch.

Everyone in the squad secured minutes under their belt, including Norwich City twins Jacob and Josh Murphy – playing for their country for the second time together.

Full-time result was 1-0 to England after Charlton Athletic’s Adebayo Azeez won a penalty in the 93rd minute, which Everton and England captain John Lundstram duly buried.

The current U19 setup is a mix of newer faces and old heads, with coach Noel Blake knowing he has to pick wisely as this group heads into 2013.

One small sidenote positive is West Ham United’s Dan Potts no longer being eligible for the United States due to his fathers residency grounds no longer qualifying him.